The present invention relates generally to vehicles, and more particularly to a vehicle wheel bearing, to a wheel-speed sensor mechanism assembly, and to a wheel speed sensor.
Vehicles include automotive vehicles having conventional wheel bearings wherein each wheel bearing includes a non-rotatable section (such as a bearing hub), a rotatable section (such as a bearing spindle) rotatably attached to the non-rotatable section, and wheel studs (also called stud bolts). The non-rotatable section typically is attached to a vehicle suspension system component. The stud bolt is press fitted into a through hole of the spindle flange. A vehicle wheel is placed on the stud bolts and secured by wheel nuts (also called lug nuts).
Some known wheel bearings include an anti-lock-braking-system (ABS) wheel speed sensor. The ABS wheel speed sensor has a target ring attached to the rotatable section of the vehicle wheel bearing and has a sensor mechanism assembly. The sensor mechanism assembly includes a sensor mechanism which senses the rotation of the target ring, a sensor-mechanism housing which supports the sensor mechanism, an electrical plug, and a pigtail wire having one end attached and electrically connected to the sensor mechanism and having another end attached and electrically connected to the electrical plug. The electrical plug is adapted for electrical connection to a vehicle ABS computer cable. The sensor-mechanism housing is attached to the non-rotatable section of the vehicle wheel bearing. The plug is attached to (via a xe2x80x9cW-clipxe2x80x9d) and substantially totally supported by a bracket which is attached to the suspension system component (such as to a knuckle which is attached to a strut of the suspension system) to prevent undesired movement of the electrical plug within the vehicle. The pigtail wire is secured by grommets to the bracket. The vehicle wheel bearing is shipped with the vehicle wheel speed sensor already incorporated into the rest of the wheel bearing. A temporary shipping shield protects/secures the pigtail wire and the electrical plug and is discarded when assembling the bearing (including the electrical plug) to the vehicle.
What is needed is an improved vehicle wheel bearing, an improved wheel-speed sensor mechanism assembly, and/or an improved wheel speed sensor.
A first expression of an embodiment of the invention is for a vehicle wheel bearing including a vehicle-wheel-bearing non-rotatable section, a vehicle-wheel bearing rotatable section, and a wheel speed sensor. The rotatable section is rotatably attached to the non-rotatable section. The wheel speed sensor includes a target ring and a sensor mechanism assembly. The target ring is attached to the rotatable section. The sensor mechanism assembly has a sensor mechanism, a sensor-mechanism housing, and an electrical plug. The sensor mechanism is positioned to sense rotation of the target ring. The sensor-mechanism housing supports the sensor mechanism and is attached to the non-rotatable section. The electrical plug is substantially immovably attached to the sensor-mechanism housing, is electrically connected to the sensor mechanism, and is adapted for electrical connection to a vehicle computer cable.
A second expression of an embodiment of the invention is for a wheel-speed sensor mechanism assembly including a vehicle wheel-speed sensor mechanism, a sensor-mechanism housing, and an electrical plug. The sensor-mechanism housing supports the sensor mechanism. The electrical plug is substantially immovably attached to the sensor-mechanism housing, is electrically connected to the vehicle wheel-speed sensor mechanism, and is adapted for electrical connection to a vehicle wire.
A first expression of another embodiment of the invention is for a wheel speed sensor including a target ring, a sensor mechanism, and a bearing seal subassembly. The sensor mechanism surrounds the target ring and is adapted for sensing rotation of the target ring. The bearing seal subassembly is connected to the target ring and to the sensor mechanism. The target ring, the sensor mechanism, and the bearing seal subassembly together define a unitized assembly which is installable as a unit in a bearing cavity of a vehicle wheel bearing. The vehicle wheel bearing has a non-rotatable section and a rotatable section. The target ring is connectable to the rotatable section and the sensor mechanism is connectable to the non-rotatable section. The bearing seal subassembly sealingly protects the target ring and the sensor mechanism when the unitized assembly is installed as a unit in the bearing cavity of the vehicle wheel bearing.
Several benefits and advantages are derived from one or more of the expressions of the embodiments of the invention. Having the electrical plug substantially immovably attached to the sensor-mechanism housing eliminates the need for a conventional bracket which is attached to a suspension system component and to which the electrical plug is attached, eliminates the need for a conventional xe2x80x9cW-clipxe2x80x9d, and eliminates the need for a conventional shipping shield. Having a unitized assembly for the wheel speed sensor which includes a target ring, a sensor mechanism, and a bearing seal subassembly reduces the number of prior art installation steps, and eliminates the prior art requirement of separate seals for the bearing cavity and the wheel speed sensor.